Bell X-14

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X-14
Bell X-14 colour ground.jpg
Bell Type 68 VTOL
General information
Type Experimental VTOL
Manufacturer Bell Aircraft
StatusMuseum Display
Primary users NASA
Number built1
History
Manufactured1
First flight19 February 1957;67 years ago (1957-02-19)
Retired29 May 1981;43 years ago (1981-05-29)

The Bell X-14 (Bell Type 68) is an experimental VTOL aircraft flown in the United States in the 1950s. The main objective of the project was to demonstrate vectored thrust horizontal and vertical takeoff, hover, transition to forward flight, and vertical landing.

Contents

Design and development

External image
Bell X-14 thrust vectoring vanes
Searchtool.svg View of the X-14's thrust vectoring vanes used to transition from vertical to horizontal flight from the Ropkey Armor and Aviation Museum.

Bell constructed the X-14 as an open-cockpit, all-metal (duralumin) monoplane for the USAF. It was powered by two Armstrong Siddeley Viper turbojet engines equipped with thrust deflectors sited at the aircraft's centre of gravity. The engines are fixed in position; transition from vertical to horizontal flight is achieved with a system of movable vanes that control the direction of engine thrust. [1] [2] Top speed was 180 miles per hour (290 km/h) with a service ceiling of 20,000 feet (6,100 m). The X-14 was designed using existing parts from two Beechcraft aircraft: wings, ailerons, and landing gear of a Beech Bonanza and the tailcone and empennage of a Beech T-34 Mentor. [3]

Operational history

The X-14 first flew on 19 February 1957 as a vertical takeoff, hover, then vertical landing. The first transition from hover to horizontal flight occurred on 24 May 1958. In 1959, its Viper engines were replaced with General Electric J85 engines. That year the aircraft was delivered to the NASA Ames Research Center as the X-14A. During the development of the P.1127, Hawker test pilots Bill Bedford and Hugh Merewether visited NASA Ames to fly the X-14 and acquaint themselves with jet V/STOL aircraft handling prior to the first flights of the prototype P.1127. [3] It served as a test aircraft with NASA until 1981.

The X-14 project provided a great deal of data on VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) type aircraft and flight control systems.

In 1971, the X-14A was fitted with new engines (General Electric J85-GE-19) and redesignated the X-14B. [4] [5] An onboard computer and digital fly-by-wire control system were also installed to enable emulation of landing characteristics of other VTOL aircraft.[ citation needed ]

The aircraft was obtained by NASA and repurposed as a Moon-landing simulator. [6] Neil Armstrong flew the aircraft on numerous occasions, running out of fuel more than once. [5]

The X-14B was used in this test role until it was damaged in a landing accident on 29 May 1981 and never repaired. [6] At the time, there were plans to develop an X-14C with an enclosed cockpit. There were also plans for an X-14T trainer. None of these further versions got beyond the planning stage.

During all of its years of service, the X-14 was flown by numerous pilots with no serious incidents or injuries. [5] [6]

Aircraft serial numbers

Although there was only one airframe, it changed serial numbers with every major upgrade.

Surviving aircraft

The X-14 undergoing renovation by a private collector in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Ropkey Armor and Aviation Museum X-14 Indiana (2007).JPG
The X-14 undergoing renovation by a private collector in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Ropkey Armor and Aviation Museum

The X-14B was rescued from the scrap yard in 1991 and is undergoing renovation as part of the Ropkey Armor and Aviation Museum. [7] [8] [ needs update ]

Specifications (X-14B)

Data from Bell aircraft since 1935 [9]

General characteristics

Performance

Avionics
Auto-stabilisation and computer-controlled engine controls.

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

Related Research Articles

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A short take-off and vertical landing aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that is able to take off from a short runway and land vertically. The formal NATO definition is:

A Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of clearing a 15 m obstacle within 450 m of commencing take-off run, and capable of landing vertically.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VTOL</span> Aircraft takeoff and landing done vertically

A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wing aircraft and other hybrid aircraft with powered rotors such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and gyrodynes.

For fixed-wing aircraft, ground effect is the reduced aerodynamic drag that an aircraft's wings generate when they are close to a fixed surface. During takeoff, ground effect can cause the aircraft to "float" while below the recommended climb speed. The pilot can then fly just above the runway while the aircraft accelerates in ground effect until a safe climb speed is reached.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V/STOL</span> Aircraft takeoff and landing class

A vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) aircraft is an airplane able to take-off or land vertically or on short runways. Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft are a subset of V/STOL craft that do not require runways at all. Generally, a V/STOL aircraft needs to be able to hover. Helicopters are not considered under the V/STOL classification as the classification is only used for aeroplanes, aircraft that achieve lift (force) in forward flight by planing the air, thereby achieving speed and fuel efficiency that is typically greater than the capability of helicopters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rolls-Royce Pegasus</span> 1950s British turbofan aircraft engine

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yakovlev Yak-36</span> Soviet experimental VSTOL aircraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan X-13 Vertijet</span> Experimental vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) jet aircraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hiller X-18</span> Experimental cargo transport aircraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawker Siddeley P.1127</span> British experimental V/STOL aircraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan XV-5 Vertifan</span> American experimental VTOL aircraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lockheed XV-4 Hummingbird</span> American experimental VTOL aircraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">EWR VJ 101</span> Experimental aircraft by Entwicklungsring Süd

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">VFW VAK 191B</span> Experimental strike fighter aircraft by VFW

The VFW VAK 191B was an experimental German vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) strike fighter of the early 1970s. VAK was the abbreviation for Vertikalstartendes Aufklärungs- und Kampfflugzeug. Designed and built by the Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW), it was developed with the purpose of eventually serving as a replacement for the Italian Fiat G.91 then in service with the German Air Force. Operationally, it was intended to have been armed with nuclear weapons as a deterrent against aggression from the Soviet Union and, in the event of a major war breaking out, to survive the first wave of attacks by deploying to dispersed locations, rather than conventional airfields, and to retaliate against targets behind enemy lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SNECMA Coléoptère</span> 1950s experimental aircraft

The SNECMA C.450 Coléoptère was a tail-sitting vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft designed by the French company SNECMA and manufactured by Nord Aviation. While work on the aircraft proceeded to the test flying phase, the project never progressed beyond experimental purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Short SC.1</span> British experimental VTOL aircraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bell Model 65</span> Type of aircraft

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiltjet</span>

A tiltjet is an aircraft propulsion configuration that was historically tested for proposed vertical take-off and landing (VTOL)-capable fighters.

Aircraft have different ways to take off and land. Conventional airplanes accelerate along the ground until reaching a speed that is sufficient for the airplane to takeoff and climb at a safe speed. Some airplanes can take off at low speed, this being a short takeoff. Some aircraft such as helicopters and Harrier jump jets can take off and land vertically. Rockets also usually take off vertically, but some designs can land horizontally.

References

  1. ↑ USpatent 2879014,Smith, Stanley W.; Sperazz, Charles M. (Sr.),"Jet Propelled Airplane With Jet Diverter",issued 1959-03-24
  2. ↑ "Picture of Bell X-14 moveable vanes for thrust vectoring". web site, ropkeyarmormuseum.com. Ropkey Armor Museum. Retrieved 12 February 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. 1 2 Borchers, Paul F.; Franklin, James A.; Fletcher, Jay W. (1998). "Chapter 8, Boundary Layer Control, STOL, V/STOL Aircraft Research". (SP-3300) Flight Research at Ames, 1940-1997, Fifty-Seven Years of Development and Validation of Aeronautical Technology. NASA. pp. 55–59. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  4. 1 2 Craig Bowman (12 January 2023). "Bell's X-14 VTOL Prototype Aircraft That Actually Worked". Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 Jason McDowell (21 March 2023). "How NASA's Unconventional Bell X-14 Almost Landed in the Scrapyard". Flying . Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Bell Model 68 X-141957". Virtual Aircraft Museum. 25 June 2009. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  7. ↑ Lowther, Scott. "Bell X-14." up-ship.com. Retrieved: 3 May 2012.
  8. ↑ "Bell X-14B". Ropkey Armor Museum. 2012. Archived from the original on 26 December 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)[ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ Pelletier, Alain J. (1992). Bell aircraft since 1935 (1st ed.). London: Putnam Aeronautical. pp. 119–121. ISBN   1557500568.
  10. ↑ Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

Further reading

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